William PARR

(1st M. Northampton)

Acceded: 16 Feb 1546

Died: 28 Oct 1571, Warwick

Buried: Collegiate Church, Warwick, England

Notes: Knight of the Garter.

Father: Thomas PARR of Kendal (Sir)

Mother: Maud GREEN

Married 1: Anne (Claire) BOURCHIER (16° B. Bourchier) 9 Feb 1526, London – DIVORCED 1551

Married 2: Elizabeth BROOKE (M. Northampton) Jan 1547/48, England

Married 3: Helen SNAKENBORG (M. Northampton) (b. ABT 1549 - d. 1 Apr 1635) (dau. of Wolfangus Snakenborg) (m.2 Sir Thomas Gorges)

Son of Sir Thomas Parr and brother of Henry VIII last Queen, Catherine Parr, described as a  man of mediocre talents and a political manoeuvrer who  made the most of his position at court. He is believed to have loved  poetry, music and fine living. He took part in suppressing the rising in the north of England in 1537, and after serving as Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire was made Baron Parr of Kendal in 1539. He married first the heiress of the Bourchier, Earls of Essex, but separate from her for adultery. In Dec 1543, after Cromwell death, just after his sister had married the King, he was created earl of Essex, a title formerly held by his father-inlaw, Henry Bourchier, who had died in Mar 1540.

He was created Marquess of Northampton in 1547, at the accesion of Edward VI, who called him his honest uncle. Parr was equally prominent in this reign, being lord-lieutenant of five of the eastern counties, and being Great Chamberlain from 1550 to 1553. He had little military experience and disregarded Somerset's instructions not to offer battle at Norwich in order to seek a reputation. He was defeated by Ket at St. Martins Place but returned to fight with Warwick's army. After the rebellion he allied himself with Warwick in the overthrow of Somerset. He signed the device of King Edward and favored the claim of Lady Jane Grey to the English throne and consequently the accession of Queen Mary was quickly followed by his attainder. Originally appointed in 1543, he was degraded from the Order of the Garter. Although sentenced to death he was pardoned and released from prison at the end of 1553. In 1559 Parr, enjoying the favor of Queen Elizabeth, was recreated Marquess of Northampton and re-elected in the Order of the Garter.

Elizabeth Brooke, Lady Northampton (d. 1565) came to court in the last years of Henry VIII and captivated the much older William Parr. Northampton already had a wife but he married Elizabeth in 1547 and lived with her until they were ordered to separate. Their marriage was declared valid in 1548, invalid in 1553, and valid again in 1558 -each change of monarch, and religion, changed Elizabeth's status. She was involved in the match to marry Jane Grey to Guildford Dudley. At the court of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Northampton was considered one of the Queen's closest friends, but as early as 1564 she was known to be suffering from breast cancer. At that time she made a trip to Antwerp to visit doctors there, but no cure existed.

About his last wife, none genealogists appear to know much about this lady. She is thus noticed by a contemporary, Bishop Parkhurst, in a letter to Bullinger, dated 10 Aug 1571. "The Marquess of Northampton died about the beginning of Aug. When I was in London, he married a very beautiful German girl, who remained in the queen's court after the departure of the Margrave of Baden and Cecilia his wife from England". (Zurich Letters, vol. i. p. 257. Parker Society.) The same fact is confirmed by the statements of her epitaph in Salisbury cathedral; which adds that she became a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, and having married, secondly, Sir Thomas Gorges, of Longford, Wilts, had issue by him four sons and three daughters. She survived Sir Thomas for twenty-five years, and died on the 1 Apr 1635, aged 86. In Sir R. C. Hoare's South Wiltshire, Hundred of Cawden, are three beautiful folio plates of her monument, which includes whole-length recumbent effigies of the Countess and Sir Thomas Gorges.

It was this William Parr who built the oldest parts of the surviving house of Nunnington, which now form part of the west front. Following the forfeiture of the estate, Nunnington was again subject to let, one of the tenants being Dr Robert Huicke who was physician to both Catherine Parr and Elizabeth I. It fell to him to tell the Queen that she would never have children. He never lived at Nunnington however and the estate was managed by stewards. The sub-lease was granted to Thomas Norcliffe in 1583 and the family made many alterations over the next sixty years.

Northampton died at Warwick on the 28 Oct 1571. He left no children and his marquessate became extinct.

Nunnington

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